VIRGINIA STATE TROJANS SURGE PAST BRONCOS 75-65 AT CIAA TOURNEY
The Virginia State Trojans live to see another day after defeating the Fayetteville State Broncos 75-65 on Tuesday evening in the Time Warner Cable Arena.
Anthony Shelton (Cary, NC) led the way for the Broncos with 12 points. Tyrrel Tate (Raleigh, NC) surpassed the 1,000-point Plateau with nine points scored. He entered the game needing five; and reached the mark with the first of two free throws with 19:04 left in the second half. At the end of Tate's junior season with FSU, he now has 1,004 points.
Virginia State University, the #5 seed out of the Northern Division trailed 34-26 at halftime against Fayetteville State University, the #6 team out of the South before eventually defeating the Broncos 75-65.

FAYETTEVILLE, NC – The Fayetteville State men’s basketball team looks to continue upon built momentum from a now five-game winning streak and a last-minute win against Chowan on Tuesday. The opponent standing in their way is 7-4 Virginia State, which hasn’t played since Dec. 18, when the Trojans lost an 87-68 decision at Barton. The last time these two foes squared off, Virginia State eliminated the Broncos from the 2013 CIAA Tournament with a 75-65 first round win.

StorylinesFayetteville State is off to its best 11-game start since the 2008-09 season, when the Broncos also started 8-3 en route to a 13-15 season.

Tyrrel Tate is fresh off his best rebounding game of the season. He had nine critical boards, scored 10 points and recorded the team’s last field goal on an alley-oop dunk.

Despite scoring just 65 points against Chowan, the Broncos are still fourth in the CIAA in scoring average at 83.2 points per game. Nobody in the league shoots a higher 3-point percentage than FSU’s 36.6-percent mark, and only Elizabeth City State has made as many 3s. Each have hit 71.

Chowan Recap

Fayetteville State got out to a big second-half lead, but had to work for its first CIAA win of the year. The Hawks actually had two free throws with five seconds remaining and a chance to take the lead, but Phoenix Butler-Poole missed a pair of free throws and Torian Showers hit his to help seal the win.

The win gave the Broncos their first five-game winning streak since Jan. 3, 2013.

Tate was the only Bronco in double-figures, scoring 10 points and recording nine rebounds. The 62 points FSU allowed is the second-lowest total it has surrendered this season. This came one game after the Broncos gave up 53 points against Barber-Scotia on Dec. 21.

Virginia State Scouting Report

The Hawks are under the direction of first-year head coach Lonnie Blow, Jr. Blow was 46-15 in his stint at St. Augustine’s immediately preceding his tenure with the Trojans. VSU is 7-4 in his first season at the helm.

Nobody in the CIAA plays better defense than the Trojans, who allow just 65.4 points per game. Conversely, VSU also averages 65.4 points offensively, the lowest mark in the conference.

Larry Savage averages 9.5 points per game. That’s just third on his team, but his 72.7-percent mark from the field is the conference’s best. Chris Grier scores 15 points per game for the Trojans.

All-Time Series With Virginia State

The contest will be the 53rd all-time between Fayetteville State and Virginia State dating back to 1957.

The Trojans lead the all-time series, 29-23.

VSU has won the last three meetings, including a contest last year’s CIAA Tournament.

Up NextFayetteville State hosts Elizabeth City State at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.